first question its about roosts

mum of five · **Posted:** Sun Mar 18, 2012 9:52 am

hi new here and love this site..
my problem is my chickens and rooster sleep on top of nesting boxes making it all poopy..i then put straw on top and change straw daily..i also raised the height of perch so was higher than boxes..didn`t work they still sleep on boxes..last night i blocked off top of boxes so they would have to perch..i did this because of poop sticking to roosters butt from sleeping in it and had to wash him..not a nice job..
they are all youngster 2 hens are about 5/6 months..3 a lot younger and rooster is 6/7 months...hes still working on his crowing..no eggs yet but i expected that with days getting shorter and cooler
Well did it work i hear you say..no not this lot
they all snuggled together on straw under perches..so my question is(a bit long winded but i got here) do they have to perch or is it ok for them to snuggle in straw?

Sebducks · **Joined:** Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:41 pm **Posts:** 812

Hello and welcome to the forum

There are a few things to consider with perches for chickens, firstly the width of the perch if it is too small its hard to grip and be comfortable on a perch. If its slippery they won't use it either, you can rough it up by using sandpaper though. What type of chooks do you have? Pekins are notorious for not perching where you want them to and they do prefer a flat surface to sleep on (at least all ours do) even when they have perches. The best perches are wider rougher perches making sure that the first perch is easy for them to jump up to then they can progress up to a higher perch if they want to so kind of like steps. Where are the perches located in the coop itself? If they are near the door which allows a draft onto the birds they may not use them either. If you put up a picture it might help too.

mum of five · **Posted:** Sun Mar 18, 2012 9:30 pm

Tonight when we locked them up..all the girls were on perch and dopey rooster on floor under them.. :roll:

Sebducks · **Joined:** Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:41 pm **Posts:** 812

sounds as though they are just young and learning the ropes, he'll get the hang of it too in time.

BigFishLittleFish · **Posted:** Mon Mar 19, 2012 9:25 am

mine dont perch either.... but mine are only 7 weeks old.
I've got the same issues of sleeping in nest boxes. maybe when my new coop comes they will perch in there since it is bigger and much different to what they have now for a coop.

mum of five · **Posted:** Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:13 am

Yeaaaa it finally happened ...last night when i locked them up all 5 girls and rooster were on the perch... woohoo4

yes they are only young 3 at about 4 month coronation sussex
2 at about 5 month a brown hyline and a blue australop
1 crazy light sussex rooster

BigFishLittleFish · **Posted:** Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:20 am

. Good chickens. that will make less work for you now not having to clean the box every single morning from the night poops.

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first question its about roosts

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